Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-12-30
POPULAR SCIENCE.

Notes o. Invention and Discovery from u,
i World Over.
A French gardener has prodaee5ls res
anG beautiful water lily. The flowers ar
SIX inches in diameter and of q Marechs
Neil rose color.
according to Mr.. Z. G. Rsvenstine, tn
english foot is used as the standard o
length Dy countries having All o00, 200 in
nabltants, the metre by $4,000, 900 PEG
pie, and the Csstilian foot by 5,905, 600
Denmark and Russia are the only coun
tries In continental Europe which hav,
not adopted the metre.
brick, says technical paper. beins
about as porous SIS lump of sugar. AND
having six sides, needs a careful filljne
for water tight work in cesspools. etc,
and thin grout or porridge OF cement is
commonly used. Heating the prick and
soaking beforehand in thick coal tai
has been recommended. A man msy ley
common wall all his life without learning
how to make brick water tight.
A new safety catch has been devised
for an elevator which will stop the plat
form automatically as it arrives at the
next floor above or below. This device
will be very handy in shops where 8
great deal Of single floor traffic is con-
stantly being done, as it will not necessi-
tate the presence of q man at the eleyas
tor as in the case OF sliding doors, and
will also dispense with careful watching
when an open elevator well Is used.
| man who Is concerned in the making
OF acoustic telephones has discovered
that the efficiency Of his machine is not in
the least impaired, even by several angles
in the Wire, consisting Of 900 each. 1t
has been stated that under these con-
ditions he has conversed to distance of
nearly one half q mile. II this statement
be true it is an advance in the acoustic
telephone which will render that instru-
ment OF considerable commercial value.
A New York man has invented device
to save horses in case of fire. It csn be
worked either by electricity or by hand.
At certain temperature bell will ring,
and the moment the bell shall ring the
doors will fly open, the horses will be
unhitched and two small streams of water
will strike each horse in the face. To
escape the water the horses will back out
OF the stalls, and once out of them they
will have an opportunity of seeing way
of escape through The open doors.
A new theory advanced By Professor
Oartel and proven good by experiment is
that well regulsted exercise is abso-
lutely essential to the successful treat
ment of heart disease. On this point the
Medical Record says: ga little refec-
ton will suffice to convince us that,
while rest is often useful, and indeed
quite indispensable, in heart disease,
there are yet many cases in which we'll
regulated exercise will improve the
nutrition Of the cardiac muscle, as of the
rest of the muscular system, aud hence
tend to the promotion of circulatory
vigor.
Roburite, says Industries, promises to
displsce all other explosives now used In
coal mines. The experiments made are
highly satisfactory. "In what is usually
an explosive mixture CT air and
fire-damp, we understand there was
no ignition. Underground, both in
coal and stone, it gave results equal IN
power to ordinary blasting gelatine, while
there WAS not SO much small ceal as with
geletine and dynamite. Probably it is
not widely known that roburite is an in
vention due partially to the action OF the
Austrian government, which in 1882
offered prizes for the safest mining explo-
sives. Roburite, carbonite and securite
were three out OF twenty which were
fsvorably reported upon, and the former
appears to be the most satisfactory"
The Fireman's Herald observes that
suffocation while asleep is great dsnger
to be guarded egainst. Smoke rapidly
causes the temperature to rise. A
wire fixed in thermometer at, say,
So F., in connection with small electric
battery and bell, will cause the latter to
ring violently on the mercury being
driven up by the rise of the temperature,
touching the wire and thus completing
the circuit. Such g continuance, simple
and Inexpensive, if placed in hotel
would give the necessary alarm; while if
the bell should be fixed outside ware
houses, etc., left unprotected at night,
before fire therein could possibly attain
any serious proportions the ringing o. the
bell would attract the notice of passers-
by, but especially the police, whose CO.
operation in the matter Of the protection
of life and property from fire cannot be
too highly appreciated.
The report ON entomology made by W.
B. Atwood to the Columbus horticultural
Society last winter states that many rem
edies were employed On the two described
cabbage wo1Hs, consisting of alum water
Of different degrees ct strength, tsnsy
water, tomato water, benzne, coal Oil
emulsions Of different strengths, Ham
mond's slug shot, cayenne pepper, half a
dozen remedies from Eoglsnd, sew
eral preparations OF tobacco soap
and pyrethrum. None proved of
any value except the tobacco soaps and
pyrethrum. The tobacco soaps prepared
with potash were quite efficient, the value
of which was ascribed to the potash.
Pyrethrum is recommended as the best
remedy, being perfectly safe, easy Of ap-
plication, and more deadly on the worms
than any remedy used. Powder of good
quality mixed with three times its bulk
of -four was found perfectly effective, sp-
piled with busting bellows. One
pound, costing so cents, is enough to
cover an acre if properly handled.
The use of oil in calming rough waters
is we'll known, but is not SO generally |
known that outside the area of oil there |
is still more violent agitation OF the |
waves which constitutes q great danger. |
The Revue Scientifque relates the fol-
lowing incidents. which proves the real !
ity of the danger: "On the Goth of last |
September life-boat from Calais went |
G6t on the sea to make some studies on |